The New Keeper
by Acies de Camena
Summary: The Lord Keeper has claimed both the Temple and the Heart. What happens when a second Heart is claimed, and the balance of his soul is thrown towards darkness. Now another Tower beckons in the distance controlled by a Lord of the Land twisted by power.
1. The Keeper is Dead, Long live the Keeper

Disclaimer: I do not own Dungeon Keeper, or the concepts of Dungeon Keeper

As the sixth dragon fell to the ground dead, the Lord of the Land, Afrael, raised his sword in victory. The Guards and Knights around him cheered along with their lord at the imminent victory. The three remaining wizards were calm, but ready to continue on, eager to scour the great library of the dungeon. All the heroes could _feel_ the pounding of the great dungeon heart only a few rooms away.

"The Keeper has sent his goblins, his trolls, his warlocks and his dragons!" Lord Afrael called out, "They all lie dead at your feet."

This brought another round of cheering from his loyal servants. Unseen, in the back of the crowd, a single wizard stood calm, uncheering, his face set in stone. The Lord of the Land again spoke, drawing his loyal into a frenzied state, and through the doors and rooms they traveled, slaughtering all in their way. Skeletons, Bile Demons, and Dark Elves all fell to the onslaught of the heroes.

Only one guard fell in this next wave of combat, and Lord Afrael was quite pleased with the effectiveness of the heroes as the slaughtered the keepers forces. All through the battle, the same wizard refused to grow confident. He had faced this keeper before, and was the lone survivor of the Realm of Light Elves.

Then it happened, just as the wizard knew it would, they opened the last door before the Dungeon Heart, and the imps swarmed over the heroes. Not much more than a nuisance, the imps distracted the heroes, causing confusion and drawing the focus of the heroes away from the Heart, but only for a moment. Into the heart chamber from three other doors, poured the worst of the Dungeons denizens. Mistresses hurling bolts of lightning, The most powerful of the Keepers Warlocks hurled fireballs into the center of the heroes' group. One by one in rapid succession, the heroes fell to their knees, dead or unconscious. Then the air shimmered, and lightning struck down, flattening the Lord of the Land.

Lord Afrael was not so easily defeated though, and with a rallying cry, brought the focus of his soldiers back to the heart. His wizards began to fire back with their own fireballs, destroying many of the Keepers minions. Lord Afrael, while his forces battled against the minions of the Keeper, attacked the heart directly. Again and again, the Lord of the Land bashed his blade against the giant glowing heart. Unseen by the Lord or the Keeper, the forces on both sides had been decimated. Only Lord Afrael, the skeptical wizard, and a single Mistress remained.

Lord Afrael, so focused on the heart, did not realize what was happening until the mistress' bladed glove found his throat, tearing the life out of him. The Dungeon Heart, worn and now small beat weakly with the life of the Keeper. The Keepers voice echoed thoughout the dungeon, voicing his gratitude towards the Mistress.

The hidden wizard stepped out from the shadows and with a single word, released a bolt of lightning, ending the Mistress' life instantly. With a smug grin, the wizard stepped up to the Keeper's Heart, placed his hand on the magical gem, and began to chant.

The words of magic rolled from his mouth and the wizard lost himself in the ancient spell. The Weave of magic stretched forth and encompassed the Dungeon Heart, then collapsed, destroying the soul inside of it, but leaving the Heart intact.

With a crooked grin, the Wizard chanted the last verse of his spell, and his body collapsed to the ground as his soul was transferred into the Dungeon Heart.

The Dungeon Heart beat with new life, swelling with Power.

A New Keeper had arrived.


	2. Light or Dark

The Good Wizard Aldain felt his body fade away as his soul entered the Dungeon Heart and then a swell of power filled essence. This sudden surge of power took hold of the edges of Aldain's sanity and stretched until he felt his own thoughts threaten to break.

It was then that a voice echoed in his thoughts, a voice that the new Keeper Aldain understood instantly to be the Dungeon Heart itself. The magic of the artifact would be his advisor, his second in command, and his teacher. The Heart drew its power from the soul of a keeper and now the Heart and Aldain were joined Symbiotically. Aldain knew his soul would disperse and fade into nothing should it ever leave the Heart, and the dungeon was now his body.

The voice spoke to him, telling him the initial secrets of the Dungeon he was claiming. His magical energy, his mana, came from the land he claimed as part of the dungeon. It was then that the heart poured forth the remaining extra magic it had kept from the previous Keeper and created for Keeper Aldain three magical imps.

The imps immediately ran to an area around the heart itself and began to chant in the their demonic language and suddenly, the dirt floor in a ten foot square around each imp shimmered and became hard and smooth as stone with a single dark green tile in the center.

Without pause, the imps continued as they claimed the barren tunnels and rooms that the former Keeper had carved inside the vast underground caverns. Then, as the rooms were claimed, the Heart began to beat with more strength and the Keeper Aldain could feel the emanations of power flowing through the ground and stretching out to the ears of those dark creatures of the deepest and darkest places inside the earth, beckoning them to come and join the Keeper for money, glory, and combat.

It was then that the Dungeon Heart felt the change in its own calling. Normally, when the Heart called for minions, the promise was for money, glory, blood, and death. This call was not as dark, not as…evil…as usual. Then the Heart knew.

Keeper Aldain is not evil. Keeper Aldain will try to use the glorious dark power of the heart and twist them into some saintly mockery of the evil it was meant to be. The Heart silently laughed with glee. Aldain would not be the only 'good' person it had taken from the light and made into a true power of hate. This was the Dungeon Hearts only chance because they were linked now, and needed each other to survive.

In the end of this, the Dungeon Heart or Keeper Aldain would emerge as the dominant force and determine whether this dungeon would serve the Light, or the Darkness.


	3. If you think it is easy now

Keeper Aldain, his mind and essence floating through his dungeon, watched in satisfaction as his newly created imps used their magic enchantments to reinforce the walls of the core dungeon. Aldain wished the imps could pick up the pace though. He knew that the self proclaimed 'heroes' of the realm would arrive soon and when they realized that the Dungeon Heart was still intact, they would attack in force.

As the Keeper thought about the speed of the imps and his concern for the attack that would eventually come, he felt the sudden urge to lash out at the imps, to encourage the little creatures to work faster by inflicting pain upon them. Aldain mentally shook the though out of his mind and then sent his essence to the main lair.

When he first took control of the heart, there had been only one chamber for his minions to call home, but Aldain had much grander plans than the previous, and now extinct, Keeper. There would of course be a wide array of creatures under the ground, the goblins, warlocks, and demons of the deep, and that was a given. Keeper Aldain also wanted to attract, or at the very least convert, Heroes. With this in mind, Aldain had made his imps dig out two more rooms to be used as lairs.

With the thought of his minions in mind, Aldain looked in and found his few goblins doing nothing. Again the thought of the loyal heroes of the now deceased Lord Afrael descending upon his unprepared dungeon came to mind and Aldain willed his voice into the lair, commanding his goblins into the training room.

A wave of anger flared over the new Keeper when one of the small green-skinned creature waved its middle finger into the air. Without even thinking about it, Aldains' Hand, his only physical manifestation possible as the keeper formed up and wrapped around the goblins throat. The hand, which could be any size he willed it to be was a dark skin tone and looked like a normal hand except for the blackened fingernails.

Aldain took control of himself again and released the goblin and then the hand pointed in the direction of the lair and Aldains' voice boomed again, commanding the four creatures into the training room. This time they obeyed without question.

Three more creatures were already in the training room, a Salamander and two Warlocks. The Salamander was not like the small wetland lizards, not this creature was easily the size of full grown cougar with the claws and teeth to match. Aldain was pleased with the Salamanders eagerness to train, and knew that this creature, for a time, would be his most deadly minion.

The remaining two were his Warlocks. They two dark magicians were not happy about training, but the Keeper coerced them into training by reminding them that the more powerful they become, the more powerful their magic is, and by their very nature, the faster they will create new spells for their use and the use of their Keeper, and if the Keeper has more magic, the safer the Heart is, and the more time there will be to continue their research. The Logic worked wonders, and the warlocks have been in the training room since.

Pulling back and using the magical sight granted by the Heart, Keeper Aldain was able to cut away the mass of earth above the dungeon and watch the actions of his minions from a birds eye view. From this perspective he could see his minions training hard and half his imps reinforcing his dungeon walls, while the other half mined out the gold for him. The Voice of the Heart, which he was now considering his advisor in the ways of a Keeper spoke to him.

"_A new creature has entered your dungeon._"

With feeling of eager anticipation, Aldain focused his attention toward the portal that creatures from the deeper parts of the world used to enter his realm. There, complete with his massive maul, stood a short, squat, and ugly troll. Keeper Aldain greeted the Troll, encouraging it forward and guided it into the main lair. Part of the Keepers plan meant keeping the true dungeon dwellers in one lair, and any converted heroes in another to prevent infighting.

Once the troll had his own bed, the keeper showed the troll to the workshop and the monsters eye lighted up with glee at the massive forges and anvils, ready for the pounding and shaping of steel. Then Aldain showed the troll to the hatchery and to the treasury, ensuring the troll would be able to get his food and his rewards for loyal service. Once this was done, it was to the training room. The troll balked at first, much the same way the Warlocks had done, but the Keeper again coerced his minion into training to further not only its combat skills, but to strengthen it for the hard labor in the workshop.

***

The Heart was becoming torn in its opinion of the new keeper. Aldain simply refused to bend to the dark influences of the Heart, but it was not as though Aldain was kind either. The new Keeper was intelligent and logical. By tricking the minions into the training room, he was ensuring the power and security of the dungeon, and while the imps were never beaten – which was a favorite past time of the previous keeper – Keeper Aldain has constantly kept the imps busy with gold mining, digging new rooms, or reinforcing the walls and roof of the dungeon.

The Heart though was not too concerned yet about the future of the dungeon. Keeper Aldain was showing himself quite capable of preparing for Hero invasions, which the first could happen at any time. The true test for this Keeper would come in the form of the more powerful creatures it was attracting, many of which the heart could feel drawing near. Bile Demons, Dark Knights, Dark Elves, Assassins, Dark Angels and Mistresses. If the Mistresses didn't break him, then the heart had one final surprise in store. The Reaper.

The Horned Reaper, or Horney as the Heart often referred to him as, was already making his way to the dungeon from the deepest bowels of hell. Horney was the embodiment of hate and anger, and if it didn't involve pain and death, the Reaper would revolt and often enough would destroy the weak Keeper before returning to the hells where he could maim and destroy to his black hearts' content.

If Keeper Aldain could keep his soft and warm side after dealing with Horney, the Heart would give Aldain all its support, he would deserve nothing less.


	4. Heroes just stand no chance

"For Lord Afrael!" the knight screamed as he the troop of heroes down the long corridor that lead into the dungeon. Just at the side of the brave knight stood Price Afrael, named after his father and new Lord of the Land. Behind them came Guardsmen, knights, dwarves, a pair of wizards, and samurai warriors.

The Imps were waiting eagerly for the chores that would follow the battle, the goblins, trolls, warlocks, salamanders, and the newest addition, the demon spawns, waited eagerly for the heroes to get past the first line of defense, the traps. His minions knew that some of the heroes were to be left alive so that the Keeper could begin the next phase of his dungeon, but not all were to be spared.

***

The Dungeon Heart liked this strategy; it meant the Keeper was still well aware of his position. Attempting to rule a dungeon full of monsters without letting them fulfill their bloodlust would be suicidal. A new creature had since entered the Dungeon, a Bile Demon. These fat demons were wide, had no legs, extremely long arms that they used to push their bulk around, and out of the sides of their heads two long horns protruded that they hung spiked morning star balls from. The last of their power came, nasty enough, from their farts. The creatures could release a gas as corrosive and deadly as a dragons breath. Three of the thick creatures now inhabited the dungeon, and their power was indeed impressive.

The dungeon was expanding nicely now, in addition to the basic rooms of the hatchery, lairs, library, training room, workshop, and treasury, the Keeper had expanded to a combat pit, four guard rooms, a prison, and a torture chamber. With a success against this group of heroes, he expected the Keeper to expand further and hopefully create a Dark Temple and a Scavenger room. Little known to the Keeper, four Dark Knights, accompanied by two Mistresses were waiting just outside the dungeon, waiting to see the results of this battle, to determine if the keeper was worthy of their service.

***

As the Heroes broke through the first door, they stepped into the long tunnel and instantly it was filled with a green noxious gas. Quickly, the wizards found the trap and blasted it away. Further into the tunnel, a bolt of electrical energy flattened one of the knights, but that trap was quickly destroyed by the heroes as well. Then, just before the second door, the boulder trap was released. Four heroes died under the weight of the rolling rock before a wizards spell transformed the rock into mud. Then the second door was reached. The heavy steel door stood strong under the attacks of the heroes, but it eventually fell inwards, and the heroes again moved forward, this time more cautiously.

Behind two secret doors, crafted by the ingenious trolls, the Keepers minions, his soldiers waited eagerly for Keeper Aldain to unlock the doors and release them onto the heroes. In the Keeper's large disembodied hand, the three bile demons waited, they knew the plan and were eager to play their part.

The first heroes had now passed beyond the secret doors and the middle of the group was now lined up with the doors. The keeper unlocked the doors silently and as they slide open silently, his minions surged forward, bloodlust in their screams of battle. As the heroes had their attention pulled to the two sides, Aldain dropped his Bile Demons right in the center of the heroes. The Demons began thrashing their heads, their horns and the heaving morning stars hanging from the flattening heroes to the ground. As their heads mowed down their foes, the bile demons released their deadly gasses.

Fireballs and lightning bolts flew as the Keeper's warlocks engaged in magical battle with the hero wizards. Heroes and Minions alike fell, but the Keeper had his own magic to aid in the melee. Healing spells and attack spells alike covered the melee and in the end, the heroes were soundly defeated and the Keeper lost only a few of his own.

Then came the imps, rounding up first the few heroes that had been beaten, but not yet dead. Then came the corpses, first stripping them of their equipment and any gold they happen to be carrying, then taking their bodies to the graveyard. Then finally, the magical walls and floors of the dungeon absorbed the blood of the battle and the Dungeon Heart hummed with contentment.

Taking a quick look over his minions and making sure they were all healed and ready to go back to work, Aldain then moved to the prison where he found two royal guardsmen, two wizards, three knights, and the prince himself. Three quick healing spells and the Prince and the Guardsmen were fully healed from the battle.

"_New Creatures have entered your Dungeon_." Aldain heard from the Dungeon Heart. Quickly moving to look at his new additions, there stood a pair of Mistresses and four Dark Knights. With a mental grin, Aldain showed them the dungeon and allowed the dark knights to explore while he went back and gathered up the Prince and the two guardsmen and took them to the Torture Chamber. There, Aldain placed the prince and the two guardsman in the tender care of the mistresses.

***

In the passing of two days, the four knights and the two wizards left in the prison died of starvation and through the magic of the Heart, rose again as skeletons in the service of Aldain. Two more days passed and the mistresses had tortured information from the prince (which he died shortly after) and through their skilled hands had twisted and converted the minds of the guardsmen, and they now patrolled the halls of the Dungeon.

The Heart was becoming more and more satisfied with Aldain. The majority of the minions were now quite skilled in combat, magical research was coming along quite quickly, and the workshop buzzed at a frenzied pace. This land was soon going to belong to the Keeper, and more lands would follow. One more true test was coming, and he was nearly at the gate!


	5. There is another way

Keeper Aldain watched the Reaper now with every spare moment he had. The Horned Reaper, known as Horny to the Heart, was training constantly. Aldain would have thought that the big demon would have despised the nickname, but he actually seemed fond of the name. It would not take long before Horny had trained to the peak of his capabilities, vast as they are, then he would want blood. Blood was something Aldain did not want his realm built upon.

After the last incursion of heroes, the loyal that had come searching for the prince, things had become quiet. Either the surface dwellers had finally been cowed, or they were preparing for a massive offensive. If they had been subdued, then there would be no heroes attacking, and nothing for Horny to slaughter. If he entered the Combat Pit, then whoever faced the powerful demon would die horribly Two on one would just make the demon have more fun, and three against the Reaper might be a challenge, depending on his opponents.

Even now, when Horny broke away from the training room, all he did was eat and then occasionally he would go visit the mistresses. Aldain made a point of no longer watching Horny at those moments. The sight, while stirring a deep and depraved part of Aldain's nature, were among the most disturbing sights he had ever witnessed.

There was something other than mistresses, blood, and death that would keep the Reaper in check and Aldain had to find it.

***

The heart watched in satisfaction. Aldain was worried about Horny and had yet to figure out what would keep the Reaper's bloodlust in check. The more stressed the Keeper became, the more he was succumbing to the dark urges that the Heart, and human nature, brought out of him. The Heart, not even pushing at all, watched in satisfaction as Aldain disembodied hand beat a bile demon into unconsciousness when the fat demon had been goading the Horned Reaper into a fight. Aldain had left the demon asleep, but had healed the damage he had caused once he came to his senses.

Other signs that Aldain were slipping were becoming more apparent. During the last hero attack, the Keeper made sure that every dead body ended up in the graveyard and this resulted in the birth of two Vampires. Every unconscious hero, and this time there were many, found their way into the torture chamber. Only two survived the experience and were converted to the Keepers side.

There was one type of room, and only one, that would stave off the Horned Reapers hostile urges. The Dark Temple. This was a structure that would allow the Horned Reaper to feel the closeness of his dark and burning home. The temple would fill Horny's mind with visions of blood, death, and horror enough to satiate the demon.

Aldain had already dug out the area he planned to build the temple in and the imps were busy with the construction of the temple itself, but one thing was still needed. A sacrifice. Blood of an innocent must be spilled on the temple grounds in order to draw the eyes of the dark gods and bless the grounds and the Heart knew that Aldain was frustrated with this. He knew that Aldain was searching for anything, anything at all, that would keep the Reaper in check that would not require that sacrifice, but the Heart knew that the Keeper was at the end of his wits. He would have to choose one or the other soon.

***

One week later, the imps had completed the Dark Temple, their skilled hands knowing exactly what to build and how to build it. It was time and Keeper Aldain knew it. Horny, with a bit of a push from the Heart had waited with the little patience he had for this moment. Simply giving the order for his dark elves to foray to the surface to find an innocent almost broke his resolve to continue on the treacherous path Aldain walked, but give the order he did.

The day after, the dark elves had returned with their prey, eager to serve and to please the will of the Keeper and the power of the Heart. The Keeper spoke over his Dungeon, letting his loyal denizens know that the Temple would soon be blessed.

Horny waited, earily calm, at the entrance to the Temple and with a gentleness that seemed unnatural for the demon, the Reaper took the wrapped burlap from around the innocent to reveal the sacrifice. For a Sacrifice, she was perfect, even Aldain could feel it.

The Keeper watched silently as the Reaper placed the sleeping young woman onto the altar of the Dark Temple. She was a pretty woman with long brown hair soft features and a body that pleased the eyes. Her innocence was apparent even though she slept. When her body was placed, the dark water surrounding the altar rippled with anticipation.

Many were watching in silence, at least two of every race of monster in the dungeon was present to witness the act. The Heart, though it was pleased with the way things were happening, felt some pity for Aldain. The Heart could feel the swelling of sorrow in Aldain but knew that once the deed was done, Aldain would truly become the Keeper he needed to be in order to swell the power of the dungeon.

Horny lifted the ornate sacrificial dagger over his head, and then plunged it deeply into the young girl's chest. Blood poured from the wound and as soon as the first drop touched the altar, time froze.

Aldain watched, as did the Heart, as the while glistening soul of the young woman rose from her body. The soul drifted upwards until, in Aldain's perspective, she was right in front of him.

"_Young Aldain, I forgive you for what has taken place here_." The image of the woman looked back down at her body and sighed.

Before Aldain could say anything, the Heart stammered, "_th...this has never happened before. What is happening here!_"

"_I have been chosen as a messenger of the greater gods and have come to you with a message Aldain._"

The Heart began to speak again, but Aldain, finding himself now back in complete control of himself commanded the Heart to be silent. "_Please, give me the message._"

"_You are blissfully unaware of the fact that your Heart is not the only one left in the world. The Heart may have even been unaware that others of it's kind exist in the world still._" The soul said calmly.

The Heart skipped a beat, but listened intently now as the Messenger continued, "_A constant rule of the world, of the gods, and of the whole of existence is that there is always a balance. A balance to the Heart exists as well and it resides upon the surface of the world and it is known simply as The Temple._"

"_A temple such as this dark place_?" Aldain asked, indicating the place where the woman was just slain.

"_Of course not. It is a place much like the Heart, where a simple mortal can gain godlike powers over the land it is connected to. Many of the same properties exist. The Hand, the powerful magic, but it's strength is not bolstered by the amount of land possessed. The Temple is bolstered by the belief of those who dwell in that land, worshipping the soul in the Temple as a God._"

The Heart suddenly piqued with interest, "_Control and power over the surface?_"

The spirit rolled her eyes. "_Aldain, there is a Temple nearby the entrance to you Dungeon. You, as a Dungeon Keeper, already understand much of how the Temple works, and if you were to control both you could become one of the most powerful entities on this world._"

"_How can I do this_?" Aldain asked, his interest definitely had grown, but it was not for the potential power, it was for his ultimate goal, the real reason he had taken the Heart in the first place. "_I am trapped here in this Heart. I cannot travel to this Temple to claim it for my own._"

The soul smiled, "_How do you expand you realm now_?"

Aldain, still willing the Heart to remain silent, smiled in response, "_Tunnel my way in._"

The soul nodded and smiled widely, "_When you come up under the Temple, you will tunnel into a large cavern that the temple is built upon. In that cavern is a sleeping creature that will awaken when you claim the Temple for your own. Be prepared, he will be a handful._"

The Messenger paused, "_There has never been one in control of both a Heart and a Temple at the same time before. The Gods have chosen you to be the first because of your noble intentions. Please, be careful young Aldain_."

***

The moment the Messenger's soul faded, time began to move once again. Black energy poured from the altar and coursed through the dark temple. Horny, understanding that at that moment, the Keeper would be watching, raised his gaze and saluted the Keeper. The Dungeon was complete.

Immediately, imps began to scurry along the entrance path of the dungeon, where the heroes had come from and about half way through the tunnel, began digging through the west wall, imps behind them quickly reinforced the new tunnel and claimed the land for the power of the Heart.

Aldain, now no longer fearing that the death of the young woman would break his spirit, had a new goal in mind. The tunneling would be long, and hopefully some more gold or even silver could be found along the way, but the goal was set. It was time to move.


	6. The Old Man and the Imp

The imps had dug through a wall that opening into a large shaft that feel deep into the earth. A water fall from above could be seen when looking up, and looking down only showed a deep black hole. As soon as the imps had reinforced the tunnel opening, they began digging and shaping the ramp that now circled the shaft upwards. Once they had reached the top of the shaft, the imps began to claim the land of the enormous cavern.

Keeper Aldain watched with anticipation and nervousness as the imps moved through the cavern. On one end, found very quickly by the imps, a huge tunnel led outside and on another side, a set of doors led to a set of stairs leading up.

Then they found it. The creature that the Messenger had warned about. Lying asleep on a giant stone slab was an enormous tiger. This great cat had to be nearly twelve or maybe even fifteen feet in length, but its body was shaped strangely, looking almost as though it would walk on two legs instead of four and the forelegs ended in paws that looked more like hands.

The imps initially screeched and ran from the enormous beast, but when it did not stir at all, they grew more bold and approached cautiously. After some experimental pokes and prods by the imps, Aldain realized the creature was under a magical sleep and would not stir at all. The Imps then, under the direction of the Keeper, claimed the rest of the cavern and began claiming the tunnel leading outdoors.

Aldain moved to the double doors leading up from the creatures' lair and willed himself up out of his realm of influence. As soon as his essence cleared the stairs, Keeper Aldain found himself inside of a huge circular room of solid white marble with an onyx stone floor. On the floor there was a pile of dirt, or that's what it looked like at first. Upon closer inspection, Aldain could see it was actually a map, brown in color and rose up from the floor to create the hills and mountains. Looking even closer, Aldain could see tiny figures moving around on the map. This was the area around the Temple, and this map was view of everything happening.

Looking up, Aldain noticed that the ceiling was not there. Instead the walls continued up and up and then opened to the brilliant sunlit sky. About halfway up the shaft was a giant prism that reflected the light of the sun into brilliant prisms that illuminated the entire structure. Aldain drifted upwards to the prism and stared at it long and hard for a few moments.

The Dungeon Heart, eager to gain its own hold over the surface world, urged the Keeper to claim the tower, but Aldain ignored the Heart and continued to watch the light dance through the giant prism. After several minutes had passed, Aldain summoned his hand, his only physical manifestation, into being. Reaching forward, Aldain placed his hand on the prism and _felt_ the warmth through his magical hand. This was the center of the Temple.

Aldain began chanting the same incantation of possession that he used to take control of the Heart. His voice rose and fell in the familiar melody of magic and the Keeper felt the pull of the magic. As soon as the final syllable of the spell was chanted, Aldain felt an agonizing rip as his soul was torn in two. His vision blurred and the world became a swirl of black, white, and gray.

***

As his vision began to clear, and the Keeper once again became aware of anything beyond the pain, he saw two beings floating in the empty gray space. One looked as an older man, a full white beard, with white hair circling the smooth bald dome of his head. He was floating calmly with his legs crossed before him as though resting peacefully on the small white cloud that seemingly held him up from the ground that didn't exist. The second was a small fat red-skinned demon whose small wings somehow held him aloft.

The little demon looked down at himself and screamed in the same voice as the Dungeon Heart, "I have a body!"

The floating old man smiled and said to the demon in a calm and patient voice, "Not really, this is merely the visual manifestation of your soul for Lord Aldain to see you."

The demon turned to the old man, "who asked you? Open yer mouth again and I'll light ya up light you up like a barrel of oil in a fireball!"

The little old man smiled, "That my friend is something you cannot do, because you see, we are now one and the same."

The demon squinted for a moment, then with a laugh pointed at the old man "You're the Temple! BWAH HA HA, the Temple is an old man!"

"Just as you are the Heart. How very intuitive of you."

The demon scowled, "Are you mocking me?"

The little old man just smiled, then turned to face Aldain. "Know this, you are now looking at the two halves of your soul. When you split yourself between the Heart and the Temple, each half of your soul conformed to the nature of the phylactery it is trapped within. The good and blessed half of your soul is me," the little man smiled widely, then added "The evil and damned half of your soul is the chubby little demon over there."

"The better half." The imp said with a grin and a nod."

The old man said, "The original soul that you called the Heart has been destroyed, obliterated when you took absolute control. Every creature in your domain, above and below ground now know that you are a free soul. You now choose to be either good or evil, the choice is yours now. You may listen to either of us, but the choice is yours."

"The Reaper will revolt and destroy the Heart!" the little demon screamed in terror.

"Time is of no essence right now. While you are learning what has happened, time stands still, but yes, the Reaper will revolt and you need to be ready to handle him. I hope enough of your minions in the dungeon are loyal enough to battle him." The old man said calmly.

"How will the reaper know?" Aldain suddenly asked.

"The Temple in the Dungeon will become a temple devoted to you, not the dark gods." The old man said simply.

"Ooh yeah, that'll piss 'im off alright." The demon said with a low whistle.

Aldain mentally shook himself, "A temple to me? I'm no god."

The old man grinned, "Not in the true sense of the word, but the powers you do wield, and will soon wield more, you will be as close to a god as you can be. Remember this though. If either the Heart or the Temple should fall, and you have not created a fall back, then you will lose yourself wholly to the side of your soul that remains."


	7. Redemption and the Word Spreads

The white light surrounding Aldain faded and the Keeper found himself once again inside of the temple, staring at the crystal. The Imp and the Old Man suddenly swarmed into his sight and both looked concerned

"Time is moving again, you must act to preserve the Heart from the Reaper!" the Imp began to yell frantically.

The old man remained calm, but still concerned. "I agree. You must act quickly, the reaper will know very quickly and will revolt immediately."

Willing himself to the Heart, the world seemed to blink out for a moment, then the Keeper found himself inside of his dungeon once more, and the roar of the Reaper could be heard echoing down the large hallways.

Without seeing them, Aldain heard the voices of his good and evil sides, "He knows already, prepare to defend the Heart!"

Aldain's quickly drew his mana, his magical power, and the Call to Arms spell took effect, calling his minions to do battle at the Heart. Horny, one of the fastest of his minions was on the move and had a head start, so Aldain again drew in mana and with a surge of power, flattened the Reaper to the ground with a Lightning Bolt.

The Reaper stood up quickly and when Aldain hurled another bolt, the Reaper held up his hand and when the bolt struck, the energy of the spell swirled around Horny, but did not touch him.

Aldain knew at this point, that many of his minions were going to beat the Reaper, so instead of wasting more magic, Aldain spoke.

"Horny, stop!" Not really expecting the words to have any affect, Aldain kept speaking without checking to see if the reaper had indeed stopped. "You are going to attempt to destroy the Heart of a Keeper that has gained power that no other Keeper before me has done." Watching now, Aldain heard Horny growl and his steps faltered for a moment so Aldain continued, "Not only is my dungeon powerful, but I have gained access to the surface world and am free to impress my will on the denizens of that world of Light!"

Horney suddenly stopped in the guard room and looked up "at" Aldain. Through the open door, the now collected force of Aldain watched and waited in nervous anticipation. They were all loyal to the keeper, but not a one of them actually wanted to fight the Reaper.

"Say what else you have to say Keeper." Horny growled.

"Free yourself from your Dark Gods!" Aldain suddenly shouted. "They have no sway on this Dungeon or this Keeper. I will grant you sanctuary should they seek retribution for your betrayal. I seek peace Reaper, but we are both aware that no matter how idealistic I may be, there will be battles along the way. There are times when peace is brought at the end of the sword, but if you stay with me, submit your will to me and free yourself from the darkness, Peace may come on the blade of your scythe."

The Reaped scowled for a moment and looked to the Heart through the mass off bodies, then back up at Aldain. "How do you propose to remove the influence of the Dark Gods, to take my bloodlust from me."

"Yeah." The voice of the Heart suddenly echoed in Aldain's mind. "How you propose to do that?"

Aldain ignored the Heart and focused on the Reaper, "The temple is mine. The Fallen Angels that have come to my side as a result of that Temple are linked directly to it. Look at them now Horney, their once black wings are now gray in color. Their darkness has been lifted because of the temple. Cleanse yourself in the water, be baptized and you will find your freedom." Aldain released silently cut off the flow of magic to his Call to Arms spell, and the creatures gathered at the Heart visibly relaxed.

Horny looked down for a moment, then looked up. "I agree Keeper, let's try this your way."

***

All of the Dark Angels and many of the dungeons other denizens were in attendance for the ritual. The old man, his good side, knew the ritual of cleansing and guided Aldain through the incantations and the large disembodied hand of Aldain scooped water from the temple pool and poured it over the head of Horny. The demon visibly tensed, then howled in agony as the dark spirits were suddenly ripped from his body.

Horny watched from his knees as the dark energy briefly coalesced into a shaped similar to the Reaper, but then collapsed in on itself and with a pop, disappeared from existence. Horny rose to his feet and then raised his scythe to the sky, "Hail the Keeper! Hail the God of the Redeemed!"

***

Unknown to Aldain, moments after the baptism of the Horned Reaper, a dark elf under his rule slipped through the portal and returned to her own land. This dark elf, Vrinn J'Virath, beautiful in the standards of almost any race, traveled through the truly deep places of the earth. Dark realms and tunnels of her home stretched out before her. The absolute blackness would have been engulfing and terrifying to anyone not born in the deep. Vrinn waited for just a second for her eyes to adjust to the infra-red spectrum and then moved forward through the warm tunnels.

Soon she found the front gate of her home city. Split in three sections, the city of Dri'vrin D'aelth, or Blood City, housed three races of intelligent creatures. Each considered evil by human standards.

First and, in Vrinn's opinion most importantly, were the dark elves. Most dark elves that journeyed to a Keepers dungeon were the fighting type. What most Keepers and surface dwellers did not know is that Dark Elves had their own society, their own cities, and their skills were as widely spread as those of the humans. Wizards, Warloks, Healers, Warriors, and Rogues.

The second race in the three part Blood City, were the Drolls. It is rumored that the drolls are actually a magically created mutation of Trolls and Dark Dwarves. If they were at one time, they are no longer. The Drolls have been an independent race for centuries and came to the Blood City originally to establish work and trade routes. Several Drolls set up residence in the city to act as liasons for the merchants There was talk of the trolls abandoning their own small city and living with the Dark Elves, but nothing was decided.

Until the Orcs moved in. The Orcs brought something to the city that was sorely lacking. Muscle. Not the type of strength that moves ore carts or carries loads produce to the market. Aggressive, Mean, and Violent muscle is what the orcs brought. Orcs do not have wizards. They do not, normally, have complex thoughts. By no means are orcs stupid though, they just do not take the time to think before acting. The orcs need many things crafted and built for them, homes, carts, armor, weapons just to name a few. The Orcs are a blessing of work for the drolls and the industrious creatures have been profiting since the orcs arrived.

All three of the races took part in a council of rulership for the city to help keep peace and ensure the prosperity of the city. One thing the council demanded of any who answered the call of a Dungeon Heart, is that should there be anything truly unusual happen to the Dungeon or the Keeper, they are to return and report it to the council. Vrinn considered Horny being freed from the Dark Gods and the Keeper gaining access to the surface world two very unusual things.


	8. Claiming the Surface

Keeper Aldain willed himself out of the Temple and for the first time in over a year looked out over the surface world during the bright of midday. Aldain had believed that when he came out of the temple, he would find the nearby city that at one time had continuously harassed the dungeon. A teeming place filled with humans like he had once been.

Instead, Aldain found himself looking down on a ghost town. Searching over the realm, Aldain found skeletons picked clean by scavengers, building half burned to the ground and other riddled with arrows. A battle had taken place here and the town did not fair well.

"Good work boss!" the fat little imp that represented the dungeon heart said as it floated into Aldain's sight. "Way to sort 'em out!"

The wise old man, the essence of the temple, floated in next to the imp. "This battle happened almost two months before you took control. A neighboring kingdom swept in from the east during the first glare of the morning sun and took the town by surprise and massacred everyone."

"Sounds like my kinda people." The Heart said with a laugh.

Aldain silently willed the two parts of his conscience to be silent and began to scour the abandoned town. After only a short while, Aldain knew that nothing was alive in the town except a pack of wolves that had taken up residence. Now Aldain had a dilemma. His dungeon was over-populated lately, but not enough to populate a town, and those that did live there were not exactly home makers. They were killers, the best of their races at destroying their foes.

Something had to be done for the denizens of the dungeon. All of them were expecting something to take place, whether that be killing or moving, there were expectations of action. Aldain withdrew tagged the buildings and with a silent command let his will be known.

First the Orc warlords were to come to the surface and either subdue the wolves or destroy them. Next, the dark knights and guards were to secure the borders of the town and set patrols. Then the Drolls and their slightly less skilled assistants, the Bile Demons, were to begin work on repairing the buildings of the town. While the repairs were being done, they Dark Elves were to begin scouting the nearby land, in particular to the east where the attack had come from that wiped out the humans. While the Dark Elves scouted, the Warlocks took up their own form of scouting. Mystical spells of scrying were to be used to search out mana vaults or hidden treasures. The Denizens knew now, populating the town was not the priority, securing it was.

***

Two months passed while the land surrounding Aldain's temple were secured, with specific emphasis on controlling the land above the dungeon. The abandoned building were almost all repaired, with the majority of the work being done at night when the dark dwelling creatures of the dungeon could work the best.

During the two months, there were three minor fights. Two of those were with a pair of small goblin tribes located in the hills. Both tribes were offered peace at first, but when they declined, they were given the choice of submission or annihilation. They chose submission. The third fight was what the orcs, dark knights, and guards called a good warm up. The neighbors to the east had found out repairs were being made to the town in the dead of the night and sent a band of thirty five over to kill whoever was doing the work. The fight had involved four dark knights, two guards, and three orcs. Outnumbered by more than three to one mattered nothing. Aldain's warriors have thoroughly trained and battle hardened. Five to one might have been a fair fight.

It was near the end of the two months that the emissaries arrived. Five each of Drolls, Orcs, and Dark Elves led to the dungeon by Vrinn the missing Dark Elf. Each group of five had a single main emissary. News of the unusual Keeper had spread thanks to Vrinn, and opportunity was literally knocking.

***

"We come seeking the chance for both of our realms to prosper Great One." The Dark Elf said, directing it's talk to the huge Dungeon Heart.

"We come seeking your allegiance Keeper." Added the Droll.

Aldain knew that if he had a body, his eyes would have rolled right then. "You know I have access to the surface world now, thanks to your informant Vrinn." Aldain paused to watch Vrinn squirm, then continued. "Be forward with your desires before I let the Reaper discuss it with you." On cue, Horney stepped out of the shadows and into the Heart Chamber, his huge scythe in hand.

The orc emissary stepped forward, "We really don't know what's going on. We hear of these great happenings and know that something is happening that has never happened before. We want to be your ally, not your foe, as these things happen."

Aldain understood and then spoke, "Go back to your great city emissaries and tell your people that you are allied with Aldain. Go back and present this opportunity; I will be creating realm both above and below ground. A viable domain not consisting of simple slaughter and battle, but with trade and growth. If any of your people wish to take place in this, they are to come to the dungeon. They will be under my rule and will be my subjects, holding fealty to none other."

As soon as he was done speaking, the Emissaries knew their audience was at an end. As they left, Horney returned to the Aldain's lesser temple inside the dungeon and spoke to the Keeper. "I now know your desires more than any other Keeper. When you gained entrance into the surface again, you had hoped to find a town full of people to serve you. You seek to create a realm of power _and_ peace. The Light and the Dark coexisting in peace. Your peaceful realm though with be fit and strong, and able to fight for and defend that peace. I accept this mission, and will be part of that strength. I just pray that you know what kind of a long fight you are in for to gain that peace."


	9. The Penny Tour

Aldain watched as the large group of fair-skinned humans approached the gates of the town. There were five men, four women, and two children. Aldain had been following them and listening silently to their talk since they entered his area of influence early that morning. Aldain knew that they had lost their homes. The three families had joined together some years previous and worked together on a large joint farm/ranch. Their lands had been seized by the local lord when one of the daughters had refused to be a harem girl for the lord.

This was the first non-hostile human incursion into his realm since he took over the temple four months ago and the emissaries of Dri'vrin D'aelth two months ago. In those two months, the town had been populated by fourteen droll, ten orcs, and twenty dark elves. None of the new inhabitants were battle trained, instead they were simple citizens, skilled in one trade or another and ready to begin a new life away from the underground. This they thought was an adventure in and of itself.

Most of the people who came from Dri'vrin D'aelth who lived in the town were only out at night. During the day, the only people moving in the town were guardsmen and dark knights guarding the town. When the humans finally were in range of the gates, one of the guardsmen called for them to halt, then walked out to meet them.

"Welcome to the Twilight Star. What business do you have?" the guard asked, surprising Keeper Aldain with not only the evenness of his tone, but also that his subjects had apparently named the town without him.

The man, Elrick by name, stepped forward "We come seeking refuge. We were cast from our homes and look to find a new place rest."

The guard nodded, "We have plenty of room for you. However, you need to be aware that Twilight Star is not a normal town. We here serve Lord Keeper Aldain, and he accepts those that can put the good of All above Self."

Elrick looked curious, "That doesn't sound unusual."

The guard chuckled, "Let me rephrase then. We accept those of _any_ race that puts the good of all above self."

"_Any_ race?" asked one of the women.

The guard nodded, "Currently we house humans, orcs, goblins, dark elves, drolls, salamanders, demons, and a sleeping giant of some kind."

The three families stood silent for a long moment before Elrick spoke up. "Demons? You have Demons as citizens?"

Aldain's guard nodded, "Yes, and I'll be honest, people are usually more shocked about the orcs."

***

The next day, after a good nights sleep, Elrick and the members of his group were surprised to see that the place was almost a ghost town. The city itself was easily able to house almost a thousand people, only about a hundred actually lived in the city. Many of those that used the city for day to day work or chores still lived inside of the dungeon. A warlock named Rijan was leading them on a tour of the city when a small dark brown creature with bulbous eyes ran past the group with impossible speed, carrying a sack of rock.

"What in the nine-hells was that?" one of the girls asked in surprise, then was smacked on the back of the head by her mother with a reprimand for her language.

"Ah," Rijan said, "That there is one of our imps. Most of us don't even notice them anymore. They are magical creatures brought to life by Keeper Aldain. The Imps are the reason even the empty homes and buildings here are in good shape. They are amazingly builders and cleaners."

Suddenly, one of the other men stopped the group. "What a second. Imps, dark creatures, and you keep calling this ruler a Keeper. Is this Aldain a Dungeon Keeper?" At the mention, the group suddenly grew nervous. On the surface, a Keeper is the harbinger of death and destruction. They _are_ the reason that normal people fear the dark.

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Rijan answered, then continued "Our Lord Aldain began as a wizard under the service of the former lord of this land. Aldain though had a different vision of how things should work. He saw that the same cycle only results in death. Lord of the Land destroys a heart and kills a Keepers minions. A new Keeper arrives and kills the Lord. blah blah blah. Aldain breaks that cycle, which is why many of us follow his lead. He is not simply a Keeper. He is both a Keeper and a Lord of the Land."

The same man, Darren, continued, "A Lord of the Land, from years ago though himself a god. Even call himself the Avatar. People would worship him and it granted him great power and strength before he was brought low by a Keeper that was served by the Horned Reaper. He had a temple devoted to him and that temple looked _a lot_ like that building over there in the center of town."

Rijan nodded, "Indeed, we have heard the same story. The Temple you see here in town is in fact the same type of temple. It grants great power to the one who controls it, the same as a Dungeon Heart grants a Keeper great power. The difference between the two is the Dungeon Heart demands pure blind evil and the Temple demands pure blind good. Both are great power but demand blindness to the other. Black and White. We serve the Keeper of the Land who can see the gray in life. The One who is not blind to one side or the other."

"I understand," Darren said, "My great grandfather served the Avatar. He said that Avatar was kind and giving towards any who were good, but the justice was hard for any who slipped. A man who stole food to feed his children lost a hand to the axe and was banished from the realm."

Rijan nodded, then before he could say anything else there was a glimmer in the air. "Ah, watch over there at the store room."

The group watched in silence as sparks of green power glimmered in the air. The green energy, which at first was random and out of control, became focused and then pulled into the shape of a rune of some kind. Then the rune flashed white and out of the air poured huge chunks of wood in all manner of sizes. The imps immediately began gathering the wood and running it into the store room.

Rijan smiled to the group as the imps finished their jobs. "I always enjoy watching the Lord Keeper at work." Rijan waited for a moment, then continued "Back to the subject of the Temple, the Lord Keeper does not profess to be a god at all. He knows that those who choose to worship him grant him great power, but that is not his goal. Thinking of yourself as a god is a bit pompous and make you think more of yourself than you really are." Rijan finished with a crooked grin.

Elrik then got involved with the conversation, "How do you suppose that a person with the power of a god, keeps from developing an ego of a god?"

Rijan nodded with his response, "An excellent question. The answer is the past. Aldain knows the weakness of the Heart and the Temple too well. He himself killed the Keeper he took the heart from, he knows the story of the Avatar. All the power those souls wielded, and they were still destroyed. Will he die of old age? No, but that doesn't mean he cannot die." Rijan paused for a minute while everyone thought about what he had said, then finished the tour.


	10. I asked you to go

Dark Elves, Archers, Warlocks and the few Mistresses stood on top of the ramparts of the wall looking down at the large group of soldiers at the front gate. Inside the walls of the city and below them stood Dark Knights, Orc Warlords, Salamanders, Demon Spawn, Bile Demons, Goblins, and Guardsmen. At their front stood the Horned Reaper with his giant Scythe in hand. All were eager to start the fight, as many of them had not seen action for many months.

Outside and unseen by the force of humans in shining armor, the Lord Keeper Aldain hovered just above their ranks. Already he had counted their numbers at three hundred, outnumbering his troops by nearly three to one. If these were just roving bandits, Aldain would have already opened the gates and let his soldiers sate their bloodlust. However, this was an organized military unit, complete with crossbowmen and their own wizards.

The herald of the enemies' forces came forward to the gate and waited, so Aldain floated over to him and spoke, "What words do you bring herald?"

The herald was instantly put aback by the sound of the disembodied voice but quickly recovered, answering "I come as the voice of my sire, Lord Johnston. We come in search of foul creatures rumored to be in the area and request you leave to hunt them down."

"I know of no such creatures on my land. Your offer of assistance is appreciated but not needed. Please convey my thanks to your lord and I wish you a good journey back to your home." Aldain replied and used a tone to let the herald know the conversation was done.

The herald looked up to the top of the fortified wall and straight into the eyes of a Dark Elf. The herald looked like he was about to say something, but stayed silent and walked back to the troops. Aldain patiently followed the herald back and listened while the man relayed the message, and what he saw atop the wall. Aldain sighed when he heard the commander issue the order to prepare for battle, and then sent the silent command to his minions to begin the attack.

***

It seemed to Lieutenant Zain that the moment the order to prepare had left the commanders mouth; arrows were released from the wall. The number of arrows should not have been as deadly as it was, but there were magic users up as well and as soon as the arrows reached their apex, the magically split again and again as the fell onto the troops.

The rain of arrows was most effective against those that had failed to see them because they were surprised by the sight of the mass of monsters rushing from the front gate at them, led by a nine-foot tall horned nightmare with a huge scythe. Just as the front ranks settled in, braced for the swarm of monsters headed towards them, lightning bolts lanced from the walls, accompanied by small orbs of orange fire the exploded into an inferno in the middle of the troops. Then they hit.

The magical barrage broke the wall of shields and Zain watched in horror as his men were cut down, crushed, and torn apart by the horrid collection of creatures. Then he saw the Reaper and all hope fled him. Swords, arrows, and axes simply bounced of the creature. A blast of magic from one of Zain own magician staggered the demon, but instead of showing pain, the creature _smiled_ as it hewed the wizard in half. Zain knew he had to stop the monster so he drew his sword and moved in.

***

Horny was enjoying himself quite thoroughly when he saw one of the men in charge come at him with a faintly glowing sword. Horny instantly realized that the only one around that could see the glow of the sword was probably him and that the sword was enchanted to some extent. Not knowing the level of enchantment, Horney decided to take the attacker serious, just in case. The man wielding it was skilled, but nowhere near enough to deal with the Reaper.

Horny back stepped from one cut, side-stepped a thrust, then knocked the man unconscious with shaft of his scythe. One of the Dark Knights stepped to finish off the fallen soldier, but Horny stopped him.

"He's beaten, leave him for the prison."

***

At the end of the chaos of battle, the human soldiers had been decimated. Out of three-hundred soldiers, only thirty two were alive and at the moment were all sharing space in a large prison cell underground. Several of Aldain's own troops lay dead, though only about twenty five of them. Aldain willed the imps from both the city and the dungeon to head to the battle field, taking anything of value from the bodies to the treasury and to drag the corpse to the graveyard. With the number of bodies here, he was sure he would get at least two or three vampires to arise.

Aldain used the magic from both the Heart and the Temple to heal his minions that were injured but not yet dead, then moved to the prison where the captured soldiers waited. Aldain arrived just in time to see one of the men die from his wounds and watched silently as all the flesh from his body melted away in a matter of seconds. Once nothing but bones remained, the skeleton stood up and went to the cell door. The door automatically opened for the skeleton, and slammed shut as soon as it was out, crushing the arm of a soldier that tried to sneak out with it.

Aldain waited for a moment, then allowed his hand to manifest in the room. All the men in the prison reacted in fear, shying away from the hand but that was something Aldain had expected. Silently, Aldain traced the Rune of Healing and waved over the group of prisoners, healing all their injuries at once. Secondly, Aldain traced a Rune of Truth which would allow him to know if those he spoke to were speaking to him honestly.

One by one, Aldain grabbed each prisoner and asked them a series of question to determine if the prisoner was hatefully prejudiced against non-humans, or simply unaware that good can exist in all thinking races. Any of those that Aldain found to be hateful, were returned to the same prison, while those that were simply unaware were taken to a second prison.

Those taken to the second prison were then brought out as a group to the city and each was offered the chance to leave then of their own free will, though they were encouraged to stay for a day to observe and learn, to see that races of all kinds, even demons, were able to coexist in peace. All but one left immediately.

Those prisoners that were kept in the dungeon were not so lucky. Systematically, each was taken to the torture chamber where Aldain let the Mistresses have their fun. Out of the original thirty two prisoners, fourteen were put through torture, and eight survived that. The six that died in the chamber lost their souls to the power of the Heart and became ghosts in the service of Aldain

From the eight that survived, Aldain found out two things. One he had expected, and one he had not. They were servants of a Lord of the Land that called himself Lord Darren. What Aldain had not expected was the talk of the Creature. The prisoners spoke of a gigantic golden-orange gorilla that served Lord Darren that could create its own magic.

As soon as Aldain was away from the mistress that had reported this, The Old Man and the Imp were in front of Aldain

"I believe it is time for us to awaken the Tiger." The Old Man said calmly.

"Yeah!" the imp scream, "Let's wake us up a huge flesh eating monster! I knew we'd get to the fun part eventually!"


	11. The Creature Awakens

The moment Aldain's disembodied hand touched the giant tiger, the creature began to stir. Aldain and the two sides of his conscience watched silently until finally the creature stood up, _on two legs_! Looking at this angle now, Aldain was certain the tiger was female.

A deep rolling purr echoed through large chamber. The creature gazed around the cavern until it's eyes fixed firmly on Aldain. "So you woke me up huh?" It asked, then scratched its own head.

"I have woken you, yes." Aldain answered simply.

The eyes of the giant cat suddenly fixed on the spiritual representation of the Dungeon Heart. "Your imp, what is wrong with it? It's is darker and much more powerful than I've ever seen one." The tiger paused for a moment, then growled "That thing is a Heart! You have claimed a Temple _and_ a Heart?"

"Wow, he's good!" the imp said with a cackle.

The tiger shook his head, "I normally play young and stupid when a new God awakens me, but if you've claimed both, then you have already stepped beyond anything I expected."

At that moment, Horny walked into the cavern and instantly the Tiger knew he was there. Dropping to all four the tiger walked over to the Reaper, then sat down like a human would. "Come here little demon, I would like to get a sense of you." The tiger said and held out its hand/paw.

Horny shrugged like the idea of climbing into the grip of a creature whose hand was bigger than his body didn't bother him at all.

The Tiger brought the Reaper up to eye level and the two simply stared at each other for a while. Aldain had the feeling they were communicating, but couldn't hear any of it. Suddenly, the Tiger moved his hand up to his shoulder where Horny climbed off and sat like a demonic red parrot.

The Tiger turned to Aldain, "You have quite a rare Demon there you know. He and I are probably equals. By the way, my name is Riana. Now, let me tell you a bit about what I am, and what I can do for you."

###################################

Quite a lot as Aldain soon discovered. Normally, when a new soul takes possession of a Temple for the first time, 'the creature' as Riana was called, woke young body with no memory. As the creature grew in age and learned from the new God, the creature would take on the personality of its master. The Creature could learn any number of things, including how to create "miracles" as Aldain himself did.

Riana however, was not woken by a new 'god' nor even a returning one. She had been woken by a Keeper/God. Rules were bending everywhere that Aldain's influence touched. Riana could feel bits of her own personality already beginning to bend towards that of Aldain. She was accepting of this, knowing that it was simply her nature. She did however, not have mind of a child. Instead, she was already well versed in many things that Aldain knew he would find use in.

Riana though she didn't need to really learn much, there was plenty she could teach. First though, it was time that she left the cavern and met the people. Riana rose up and strode out of the cave in the side of the cavern and into the sunlight.

At first, things in the city that surrounded the Temple were tense as the twenty-three foot tall tiger strode down the main street. The denizens that had risen from the dungeon and onto the surface were from a world of 'strength rules' while Riana was from a world where orcs and demons were killed on sight.

The Temple Keeper's voice echoed throughout the city and through the lands surrounding as he called out, "Behold the Tigress Riana, my chosen avatar of the kindness and generosity of our people just as the Horned Reaper is the avatar of our strength and determination!"

As Aldain spoke these words, Riana traced a runic symbol in the sky with her claw that Aldain had never seen before. He watched in awe as a reddish pink glow suddenly shot out from Riana. He recognized it as a healing miracle, but of much larger proportions. Encompassing the majority of the city in the glow, anyone who had so much as the slightest scratch felt the wounds disappear and their bodies revitalized.

Aldain _felt_ the sudden surge through the temple as his people belief in him grew massively. In his mind he heard Riana say, "_I will remain up here for a time, but soon, I should visit the Heart._"

Aldain mentally chuckled, "_A bit big for the Dungeon aren't you_?"

Riana purred suddenly, "_You have much to learn of me yet Lord Keeper._"

Aldain didn't question that at all as he watched Riana as she lowered the Reaper to the ground, then began to move around the city, performing any act of kindness that she could. It was a moment later that he heard another voice, something so faint and in the distance that he couldn't make out the words. He knew that the Healing Miracle had drawn something or someone's attention.

As Aldain thought about the possible implications of this, he heard the voice of Graaf, one of the imps that has been around since the beginning of his time as the Keeper. "_We have tunneled into new area_."

###################################

Aldain mentally willed himself to Graaf and found himself at the edge of a wide and deep expanse of water. Looking as far as his domain presence would allow, Aldain saw no end to the water. Aldain allowed the imps to go about their normal business, and with the tip of his index finger, tapped the perfectly serene surface of the water. After waiting for a while, Aldain tapped again, twice in rapid succession, then waited for a couple minutes and tapped again. Aldain sensed the movement before it happened pulled his hand back inside the solid tunnels of the dungeon and watched.

Then it came, a body of nearly four feet and tentacles over twelve feet in length. Aldain could see it just below the surface and then watched it come up out of the water. Aldain knew of these creatures from the library, but did not think he would ever find one. They were called Tentacles by the denizens of the dungeon and nothing could seem more fitting for a name.

The Tentacle used its name sake, its tentacles, and crawled up the wall of the dungeon and then onto the ceiling. There it stayed silently, waiting for its next victim. Too late to stop it, Aldain saw one of the younger imps darted to the edge of the water, oblivious to the danger. The tentacle simply dropped on top of the imp, enveloping the imp in its tentacles. Aldain could see now that the suction cups of the tentacles barbed and the imp was quickly torn to shreds and the Tentacle dragged the body into the water to feast.

Aldain understood that this meant that somewhere else around this water, there was another access point from dry land. The Tentacle knew the draw of fresh water and how to ambush non-aquatic prey. Aldain commanded a door be built twenty paces from the water and locked until he had time to explore further.


	12. Does not Play well with Others

Aldain learned quickly that the locals had an old legend of a great hunting cat that used to travel the lands, helping those in need and destroying the forces of darkness. When rumors began to spread from the Dungeon City and out into the surrounding realms both above and below the surface, people began to arrive more frequently.

Often, when it was discovered that the city and the dungeon was home to a mix of both the "good" and "evil" races, the new arrivals would turn around and return to where they came from. Often enough though, they would stay, and quickly Aldain was discovering that he needed to focus more and more on the day to day needs of his people rather than fortifying from some unseen enemy. Riana, with her own magic was a huge help in this area.

The forges under the city, in the dungeons workshop worked over time with the dwarves and the drolls working together. Their craftsmanship was both strong and beautiful. The guards and the soldiers were trained fairly, but mercilessly by Horny, who demanded nothing but perfection from his troops. Warlocks who had previously only made potions to help in a fight, now found their skill in alchemy useful in creating all manners of elixers from Wood treatments to healing.

Months fell off the calendar, and though many of his original dungeon denizens had now forsaken the way of the sword for calmer tasks, there were also those that had come to the city as farmers and found they had a natural talent with sword or spell.

Often, there were fight born of old prejudices. Surface elves against the Dungeons dark elves, or the white magic wizards against the dark magic warlocks. It happened, but Aldain was quick to stifle these conflicts with a firm but patient hand.

Trade with other realms was almost non-existent however. If Aldain's people needed something it often cost more than it should, and the prejudices of other realms limited who could make the deals for him. Gold was the universal language though, and Aldain had plenty.

Aldain felt the mental tug of an imp trying to get his attention, so he moved quickly to the small creature and saw that the imps had again tunneled into a new underground chamber. As soon as he arrived, Aldain knew that trouble was coming, he could sense the presence of another Keeper.

Instantly, mental commands went out to Horny and Riana to prepare for possible battle. Aldain mentally triggered a simple yet unendingly useful attribute of the heart and teleported a three mistresses, two guards, three knights, and two wizards into his 'hand' and watched in silence as his imps began to spread into the newly discovered dungeon, claiming land as they moved. The imps made it about a hundred feet down the tunnel of the rival keeper before Aldain called them back.

As expected an imp that Aldain did not control suddenly appeared and began to reclaim the land. Horny lunged out of the darkness, grabbing the little creature in his hands and growled out "Call your Master to speak with mine."

Creature after creature suddenly began to appear out of thin air around the Reaper and began to attack. In response, Aldain released his own troops from his hands and willed them to attack.

Aldain heard Riana in his mind, "Take me to the fight Keeper!"

Aldain willed the tiger into his grip the same way he had the others, and to his surprise, she had shrunk down to nearly the same size as Horny. Aldain watched as the tiger waded into the battle as eagerly as the Reaper. Their fighting style were completely different from one another. The Reaper used brute force and strength, shrugging off sword and magical strikes like they were nothing, barreling into his opponents with rage and ferocity.

Riana moved with grace and speed, ducking and dodging everything aimed at her. With each turn and twist of her lithe body, her claws and fangs found a new victim, splattering her soft blue striped fur with red. The glimmer in her eyes told Aldain that she enjoyed the fight as much as Horny did, but she had simply learned to control the bloodlust centuries before, whereas the Reaper was just learning.

Quickly, there was an abundance of bodies lying on the ground, including a mistress, warlock, and two of the knights that Aldain had called for the fight. Those four, Riana and Aldain quickly used magic to heal, and the other twelve bodies were being inspected by the imps. Through their magical connection with Aldain, the imps quickly advised that seven of the twelve were headed to the graveyard while the other five were being dragged to the prison.

Out of the air boomed a voice, "I am Keeper Brilhast, who are you to dare invade my realm?"

Aldain knew if he had a face, he would have smirked then. "You wish to speak now? When we asked you imp to request audience with you, your minions attacked."

"You will speak with me now if you do not wish to be destroyed weakling!" Brilhast's voice answered and echoed around the cavern.

Aldain was silent but for just a moment, "We can discuss peace between our realms, but I will warn you just this once." Aldain said in a deadly calm voice. "If you threaten me again, I will destroy you and claim _everything_ you have for my own."

Brilhast laughed in response, though a bit calmer. "If you could, you would have already done so! Submit and pay tribute and I may consider letting you keep your Heart!"

Aldain sighed, then replied. "You were warned Keeper."

The battle that followed was bloody and cruel. It was also devastating for both of the keepers, with many of Aldain's own minions beaten and captured, but many more of Brilhast's troops were imprisoned, being tortured, or simply rotting in the graves in hopes that new undead would arise to aid the victorious Aldain.

Every bit of land that the imps claimed increased the Temple Keepers powers, drawing mana from the land and fueling his magical stores. Then he found it. Watching silently and ignoring the manic cries for mercy from the beaten Keeper Brilhast, Aldain watch the imps circle the rival's Heart and begin pounding it mercilessly with their picks and hammers. Both Riana and Horny watched from the sidelines as the heart, which could never truly be destroyed, began to shrink in size until all that remained was a small globe resting in a giant basin.

Aldain's "hand" appeared in mid air and the Lord Keeper began chanting, whispering at first, then growing in volume and power as he repeated the incantation he used so long ago when claiming his first Dungeon Heart. A sudden gasp echoed in the Heart Chamber as this Heart suddenly swelled in size, beating proudly and powerfully once more. A 'shudder' suddenly swept through all of Aldain's lands as those under his watch felt the power of the Lord Keeper swell. Imps surged out happily, claiming the lands that once belonged to Brilhast.

###################################

Several months went by, and during those months, all those in the realms noticed a shift in the Lord Keeper. At first it was very subtle, almost unnoticeable except by those that had served him the longest and knew him best. As the months crept by, the Lord Keepers changes became more noticeable and more obvious.

The corruptive power of the two Hearts was twisting Aldain, turning him more and more vicious and cruel. Even his Tower had started to show a change as it took on a more sinister look. It was this that prompted the meeting of Horny, Riana, and Vrianna, the now High Priestess of the Lord Keeper. Then agreed as one, that they must act, or lose their master to the Darkness


	13. Hi Pot, I'm Kettle

It was still another three months after the decision to search out a way to balance Aldain was made by Horny, Riana, and Vrianna. Riana, who was the quickest mode of travel would travel out beyond the areas of Aldain's influence, seeking other towns, other places of power, while Vrianna began driving the Warlocks, Wizards, and Vampires to poor through the volumes in the Temple library, as well as the Library in the Dungeon, and the newly claimed Dungeonon Library from Brilhast. Nothing as of then had been found. But then suddenly…

"Lord Keeper," Riana suddenly called to Aldain, "I have found something of great interest."

Aldain willed himself to where Riana stood, and as the landscape zoomed by, he heard Riana once more. "Look beyond the town to the horizon when you arrive."

Aldain noticed immediately upon arrival that she was outside his influence and would be drawn back in soon. A quick glance at the town showed a decent sized village, but not much more. In the Village Center was an unfinished statue. Glancing toward the horizon where Riana pointed, Aldain saw the black tower on the horizon glimmering like polished Onyx. When his sight locked onto the structure he instantly knew that this was the tower of another 'god.' A God that obviously had chosen the path of a 'vengeful' god and ruled with fear, not compassion.

Aldain sighed when he was suddenly pulled back into his own realm and moved to the tower. Still connected with Riana, he spoke to her mentally. "We need to take that tower. Those people do not deserve to live under a tyrant."

Riana quietly whispered in return. "I agree Lord Keeper, please look upon your own tower."

Confused, but agreeable, Aldain looked at the Tower and saw what he had not seen happening over the course of the last year. There his tower stood, a deep red color with blackened windows, a dark spire of doom.

"I have fallen." Aldain whispered quietly.

"No, my lord." Riana said sympathetically. "You are off balance. Claiming this tower will balance the influence of the Towers to that of the Hearts, and once again, the choice will be yours."

Aldain nodded and mentally brought the Reaper and Vrianna into the conversation, advising them of what Riana had found.

Vrianna was ecstatic, and Horny himself was excited. Riana began the walk to return to Aldain's domain, and the three quickly began to formulate their plans. The town Riana had discovered would first have to become Aldain's. He only possessed the souls of once town, though it had grown widely and now was nearly a city, bustling with trade and prosperous exchange. Three if you counted the two Dungeons. The claiming of the town would allow the Lord Keeper's reach to expand, allowing him to get closer to this new god and potentially drawing worshippers away from him. First, Aldain would begin trade by merely scouting the city with the help of his elves and rogues. He needed to first know what they had, what they needed, and if another force had claimed that Town.

The claiming of a Heart was simple and straight forward. Kill or subdue the enemy, take what is theirs. Then the denizens can be lead towards the light in a good manner. The claiming of Temple lands was more touchy, as you had to win their hearts, not just the Tower. Aldain could win them with force, but he knew now that the Hearts had begun corrupting him, and he had to add some counter-weight to the scales of his soul.

###################################

Two months passed before the first wagon carrying goods from Twilight Star entered the town of Aaron's Hope. The wagon arrived with two guardsmen, a knight, a dark knight, a dwarf, and a droll. In the wagon were ten bows, a large supply of arrows, a large amount of food supplies, and several basic farm implements to help the town from the brink of starvation, and also to help their hunters and farmers through the coming summer. Also with the wagon came two Disciple Farmers, one human and one orc. Though by trade they were farmers, they were also devout worshippers of the Lord Keeper and would, hopefully, begin to spread their faith in the Lord Keeper to the others.

Once the wagon was unloaded, the guards made it clear that they would be staying while the farms were built up an equipped, but then would be leaving with the, Knight, Dark Knight, Droll, and Dwarf. The Guards already knew that, if, when that time came, the townsfolk wanted them to stay, they would stay and faithfully guard the town as though they were guarding Twilight Star itself.

With the additional help, and the capable hands of both a highly skilled Dwarf, and a highly skilled Droll, the farms were built up quickly and smoothly. They planting itself was going to be left to the Citizens and the two Disciple Farmers. The townsfolk were happy to have the farms built, but they were concerned about the already dry season so far. To answer this, the Disciples both stood in the center of the fields and began to pray. Loudly.

As the townsfolk watched, Aldain quickly traced the rune of power in the air, then 'willed' himself to his disciples and summoned the rain clouds, pouring moisture over the fields. Aldain felt the surge of belief rush through the town as they people watched the Miracle take place. He knew the town would be his and without too much more effort.


	14. Expansion

Over the course of the next year, the influence of the Lord Keeper had spread farther, and he now held sway over the town of Aaron's Hope and the construction of a new Village Center was well underway to the west of Twilight Star, opposite of Aaron's Hope. The humans of Aaron's Hope village, though hesitant at first of the racial mix they experienced, quickly began to warm to the various creatures they met.

A smaller dungeon was in the process of being dug out underneath Aaron's Hope where the Warlocks and Wizards would work together to open up a gateway that would allow quick travel between the two cities. The Dungeon itself would, of course, be where those that could not live under the sun would call home. It was the middle of the next spring when Aldain was hovering silently inside the tavern of Aaron's Hope, that he heard some things of interest.

A farmer and his wife sat at a table with a Droll and a Guardsman, all four of them with an ale set before them as they waited a pot of stew to be brought to the table. The Guardsman, while still wearing his armor, had loosened the straps holding it in place and his helm was resting on the table.

"…that's why I'm surprised we've heard nothing from Lord Johnston." The farmer said after taking a long swig from his mug. Aldain had to think for a moment before he remembered why the name was familiar, but then he reminded quickly by following the conversation.

The guardsman frowned, "So you're saying that this Lord Johnston lives in that tower off to the east and that all those troops that we fought a couple years ago were his?"

"That they were." The farmer answered. "That was a lot a guys that were killed, but from what I know, the army was never the most dangerous thing he had. Now keep in mind, Lord Johnston always did what he thought was the best for his people, always trying to do right by us. He just…"

"…took it to far." The farmers' wife finished for him.

Nodding in agreement, the farmer continued "His punishments weren't so bad back in the day, but these last few years are why Ellen and I moved out here to Aaron's hope. It used to be that the only thing that got you killed by law…was when you killed someone else. If you stole something, you paid it back and spent some time working for the one you wronged." The farmer paused and sighed before continuing, "Now though, if you speak out against the Lord, it was public lashings, if you steal something like a loaf of bread and all your belongings are stripped and you're a slave to the realm for a year. It's just too much."

The Old Man and the Imp that represented the sides of Aldain's conscience were hovering in Aldain's vision, listening intently to the tale the farmer wove. The Imp was smiling and obviously enjoying the tales of misery, while the old man shook his head in sorrow for those suffering.

The four at the table grew silent for a moment as their stew pot was set in the middle of the table and bowl handed to them by the serving woman, then as they ate, the farmer continued. "Now about three years ago, a big group of people tried to rebel against the harsher treatments, but that's when we found out about….it."

"It?" the Droll asked, eyebrows raised.

"Aye. It." The farmer said, but his wife was the one that continued

"It's a creature, bigger even than that pretty tiger giant, Riana. It looks like a giant bear that walks only on its hind legs. The fur is brown, but something weird about it, because every time it breaths, ashen smoke comes out of its mouth and nose and its fangs and claw are just wicked looking. Much more dangerous than a brown bears teeth and claws should look."

"What happened?" the Droll asked, already knowing the answer.

The Farmer sighed, "Lord Johnston set the thing on those people. It slaughtered them, each and everyone one of them. It could do all that magic stuff also and was blasting folks with giant balls of fire and lightning bolts."

The table was silent for a few moments as they ate, letting the tale sink in further before Ellen, the farmers' wife, spoke again. "So yeah, that's what we were wondering. Lord Johnston was always protective of the town, so we don't get why that hellish bear wasn't set on your home back then. With all that power, why wasn't it used?"

The Guardsman shook his head, "I couldn't say, but I'm glad it wasn't."

The table chuckled at that comment and grew silent as they finished their meal

###################################

The Imp, larger and more dominant now, laughed. "Now that Lord Johnston, he sounds like a good fella. I wouldn't mind getting on _his_ good side!"

Aldain could feel the pull on his conscience, the desire to do exactly that, to side with this Lord of the Land, to further the darkness that he was spreading over the lands.

The Old Man however sighed deeply, "How sad it is that these poor people have to live under the sway of a fallen Lord of the Land."

Aldain mentally shook his head and reached out to his High Priestess Vrianna, the Tigress Riana, and his General, Horny. Mentally he replayed the conversation that he had overheard and requested their opinions.

Vrianna was the first to respond, "My Lord, as you know, _whatever_ decision you make, that is your will and I will follow it with all my heart and soul."

Horny chuckled in their mental connection, "He wants your opinion, not a decision to come from you." Then directly to Aldain he answered, "I too am feeling the pull of the Hearts Aldain, as it is by their power that I remain on this world. That said, my opinion to go in there, cut throats, and let the blood drain into a goblet is somewhat tainted towards what I know your future goals to be."

Riana spoke calmly, and the most diplomatically of the group. "From what I've heard, the people there are unhappy with his rule. I suggest subterfuge in the beginning. Send Disciples to gain a foothold within the populous. Send rogues for espionage to try to find out more about his military might and maybe find out something about this Bear. I concede the point to Horny that at some point, blood will be shed, which will hopefully sate both our blood lusts. For the good of those people, and the chances of taking that Tower, we need to be careful."

Vrianna spoke again then, "I agree with Riana my Lord. Taking heads in your name is one thing, and not something I'm against either, but I do believe that if we can show these people a better existence with you as their God, that we will win their hearts not necessarily faster, but definitely more completely."

Aldain was silent for a moment and he could see both the Old Man and the Imp waiting eagerly for his decision. "So Be it." Aldain said simply. "Vrianna, I task you with deciding who shall be the disciples that will spread the faith. Horny, I want you to have some swift troops ready. We're going to start with the outlying smaller town. They may have some pests harassing their villages and helping their security may be a way to help sway them. Also, get some rogues in place within the villages, as well as some Dark Elves where it can be managed. We can become a force of Karma in those towns when the people are treated badly. Riana, after a month or so, I want you to begin letting yourself 'be seen.' These people know the Hell Bear, let's introduce them slowly to the Twilight Tiger."

###################################

The three minds of Aldain's trusted advisors fell away and the Imp began to rant, "You're not going to kill anyone? What kind of Keeper are you?"

The Old Man remained silent, wiser to what was happening. Happy that war was going to be avoided but not please with how the Lord Keeper intended to conduct business.

Aldain spoke to the Imp, "What do you think I mean when I said a 'force of karma?' I want to win their hearts, not just their fearful devotion. When this Johnston's troops treat people poorly within these town, these troops will never wake up. Dark Elves in the night and Rogues infiltrating their power structure. Oh yes, there will be blood."

The imps eyes widened a bit "Ooh, Cold Blooded Assasinations! Now _that_ I can respect."


	15. Wakey Wakey, Eggs and Bacey

The Lord Keeper, if he could have, would have shaken his head. Instead he just shook his view of the world a few times. Aldain felt as though he was coming out of a daze when he heard the voice of Vrianna, his High Priestess. Quickly focusing he realized it had been almost seven months since he had commanded the Reaper to begin his espionage, since commanding Riana to begin swaying the enemy with her glory, and since he had commanded Vrianna to begin spreading word of the Lord Keeper to the masses.

"My lord, if you can hear me, I must speak with you."

_"My lord, if you can hear me, I must speak with you."_ Vrianna spoke to the Lord Keeper outloud as well as mentally.

"_Of course, my High Priestess_." Aldain replied.

Vrianna, Aldain could feel, sighed in relief. "_I wish first to thank you for the blessings you have bestowed upon both myself, and upon those under your watchful gaze._" Vrianna paused for a moment before continuing, _"As you know my Lord Keeper the new town west of Twilight Star, Valion, is now fully independent and shining with your glory."_

Aldain at this was overcome with a sense of relief. He hated that he had somehow seemingly lost the last seven months as though they never happened, but was glad that Valion was prospering. Aldain mentally willed Vrianna to feel his pleasure at this news and he could see the effect this had on his High Pristess when she smiled and seemed to visibly relax.

Mentally she spoke again to Aldain, "_I know that the citizens of Valion hope to have your favor as they bless the altar in their newly built Temple."_

Aldain willed his 'hand' into existence and lightly carressed the cheek of his high Priestess. "_Of course they will have my favor. You already know this though, my High Priestess. When you called to me with such urgency, what is it that has brought this urgency to you_?"

The High Priestess suddenly smiled widely, looking up eagerly and if Aldain had eyes, she would have been looking straight into them. Losing her normal control, the High Priestess was no longer speaking in her mind to Aldain, but instead was speaking out loud.

"My Lord Keeper, as you already know we have three of the town under the sway of the vile Lord Johnston on the very brink of conversion. All that it will take is a strong push. The three dukes of those three villages, along with three of the higher ranking priests in the towns have all become believers in your might. I have met with all of them in the last month as you know, and all three gave me something for you. I had know idea what they were until I brought all three of them together and had Rijan, your chief warlock, look them over with me."

Aldain chuckled slightly at the excitement in Vrianna's voice. "_I'm unsure of what could possible have you this excited, my High Priestess. Show me these three treasures."_

Aldain watched as Vrianna opened a pouch on the side of her hip and pulled out a small statue and a small gemstone. Then on the other hip she opened a long bone tube and from the tube she pulled out a roll of several sheets of parchment. Aldain willed his vision first to gain a close view of the gem and the statue. What he saw was what looked like humanoid shaped figure. The statue was extremely blocky and showed no features other than its general shape. It was even impossible to tell if the figure was intended to be male or female. The statue stood with it's hands extended above it's head as though holding something aloft. Looking at the gem, Aldain recognized immediatly that the statue was intended to hold this gem. Though he had no idea what it was for, the Lord Keeper could feel the immense power within the gem and statue, waiting to be released. Aldain had a feeling that the pages held the secret to releasing the power.

The Lord Keeper watched silently as his High Priestess unrolled the parchments and spread them out before her. Aldain listened only for a mere moment as the High Priestess explained what she saw before he stopped hearing Vrianna. It was not that he was ignoring her, but the magnitude of what he saw before him simply shook him that much.

The Imp and the Old Man were immediatly bickering over what the implications of what they saw. Aldain however tuned out their voices. Unintentionally his excitment began to grow outward and in mere moments, everyone within the Keepers aura of influence felt the jubilation of their 'god.' Vrianna, because of her proximity to Aldain suddenly cried out with pleasure, then fell to the ground, her body shuddering with pleasure.

Aldain, realizing what had just happened knew that if someone could actually see him, they would see his blushing. Knowing he had to say something, Aldain placed his hand over the top of Vrianna to embrace her as much as possible. "_You have done well, my High Priestess. Very well indeed_."

Vrianna neither spoke aloud, or mentally, but Aldain could feel more spiritual pleasure emanating from his praise than what physical pleasure he had unintentionally given to her. Aldain waited in silence, and when Vrianna fell asleep in his palm, the Lord Keeper willed his essence to the private chamber of Vrianna within the Great Temple. There, he placed the High Priestess in her bed and covered her.

This done, the Lord Keeper willed himself to Riana

Upon his arrival, he found that Riana was lazily stretched out in the sun, basking in it's warmth. Her location however was on the beach of a lake near a town that Aldain was unfamiliar with. There on smooth rock Aldain saw that there were people on the sandy beach closer to the water were people that he knew were not his followers, but close to being so. Riana was doing exactly as he had commanded and was letting here presence and power be a powerful way to convert those not under his rule.

"_I know you are here Lord Keeper_." Riana said silently to Aldain. "_I could feel you awaken. I trust your feel refreshed from your rest_?"  
Aldain was silent for a moment, then responded. "_I am. Did you know this would happen_?"

Riana mentally 'smiled' at Aldain. "_I did not know, but I hoped. With almost all of those that are in control of a Temple have periods of rest_." Riana paused for a moment, then continued. "_You did not rest as long as I had hoped, but I am relieved that you did Rest_."

"_So there is a purpose in this Rest_?" Aldain asked.

"_Indeed. Because those that take control of the towers are mortals to begin with, their minds are not prepared for the reality of Immortality. The first and hardest thing to overcome is sleep, or the lack of it. Your mind never shuts down, the complete loss of a body. The Rest is a way to counteract this. To my knowledge, the Keepers never experience The Rest, which I suspect is a reason why they become insane and unbalanced_." Riana replied.

Instantly the Imp swarmed in Aldain's vision, screaming at the Tigress, "_I'm NOT unbalanced you feline Bitch!_"

Riana chukled as the Old Man swam into the scene and spoke to the Imp, "_Not unbalanced, indeed_."

"_I can see and feel that when you snapped out of The Rest, you are feeling better, and when I say better, I mean less hostile. Less inclined to command the reaper to set up assassins in other towns_."

Aldain was silent for several long moments. "_Yeah, I did do that didn't I_?"

"_That you did_." Riana said, a sympathetic tone in her mental voice. "_However, you have a chance here to not only set things back on the right path, but to also save those under the rule of a Lord of the Land that has not Rested in a very long time_."

"_Okay, I need to speak with the Horny_. _It's time to end Lord Johnston and complete the balance._"


	16. Preparations are Completed

Aldain quickly willed himself to the Horned Reaper that was nicknamed Horny. When he arrived, there stood the reaper in the arena. The arena itself was surrounded by a group of knights, guardsmen, dark knights, demon spawn, and a few other mixed minions. In the arena with Horny was a Samurai, a Knight, and a Dark Knight.

As Aldain watched, the three warriors began circling the Reaper slowly and with the patience of deadly predators. One by one, a warrior would test the Reaper's reflexes, only to be back pedaling quickly. Then the Samurai feinted coming in to attack, but only moved a short step forward, drawing the attention of the powerful Demon. At the same time, both the Knight and the Dark Knight lunged forward, the knight thrusting with his long sword and the dark Knight slashing at the demon's head.

Horny caught the swipe at his head just in time, blocking with the staff portion of his scythe, but the Knights' sword pierced his side. The sword only made it about width of a grown man's palm before the demon turned quicker than the thrust was moving forward. The sword slide out of the demons' side and the Knight was knocked flat on his back as the Reaper's free fist snapped out in a back-fisted strike. After the swing, the knight didn't move.

The Samurai took to the attack as Horny turned, and with a speed that Aldain wasn't sure that even Horny was prepared for, the Samurai has slashed the Demon three times with his Katana. Horny stumbled back from the attack before getting his scythe up to block. Releasing his own speed, the Reaper began to block and counter-attack with the samurai, matching blow for blow. The Dark Knight circled around to the back of Horny and lunged forward with a heavy over head chop. The Demon knew it was coming and stepped quickly to the side and swung his scythe in a back handed arc toward the Dark Knight. The Dark Knight blocked the swing with his shield, then rotated along the extended arm of the reaper, trying to regain the back advantage.

Knowing that he was being out-maneuvered and flanked, Horny finally resorted to his powers. Stomping his foot on the ground, a burst of fire and force blasted out from the Demon, singeing and knocking his two opponents off balance. Quickly, the Demon reached out and hooked the blade of his scythe around the back of the samurai and pulled, while stepping to the side. The Samurai wasn't cut because the metal armor he was wearing held up the blade of the scythe, but only because Horny wasn't trying to cut him open, he was simply moving his opponent.

The Dark Knight reacted just in time to side step as the Samurai was flung at him. The Dark Knight growled aloud as his ally tumbled to the ground somewhere behind him, and then brought his shield up just in time to block the blade of the scythe. Horny, with a deft twist, rotated the blade of the scythe around so that it hooked around the back of the shield and then pulled. The Dark Knight's shield was strapped to his arm and so he screamed aloud in pain as his arm was jerked out of it socket. Knight fell face first into the dirt of the Arena, then grunted once and didn't move after Horny slammed his foot down onto the back of his helmet, nearly crushing the skull contained within.

The Samurai just regained his feet and saw that he was now alone against the Reaper. Horny chuckled, then beckoned for the Samurai to attack. The Samurai nodded, then saluted his enemy with his blade. Summoning up his Ki energy, the samurai slashed down low to the ground in an upward arc that ended above his head. With the power of his Ki, the sword slash created an energy wave that blasted out at the Reaper and the samurai lunged forward, following his attack in.

The Demon took a single stagger step back when the ki wave hit him, but then was reset and ready when the Samurai attacked in close. The flurry of attacks was almost impossible for Aldain to follow, but in the end, the Samurai was suddenly on his back, bleeding from his broken nose where the shaft of the Scythe had struck him. Glancing back to Horny, Aldain was shocked to see that the Reaper was bleeding from another half dozen wounds.

Aldain traced the healing rune in the air with his hand, and the combatants in the arena were suddenly healed of all their wounds. "Great Reaper, I need to speak with you." Aldain said with an emotionless voice.

Horny looked up and nodded to the air, then reached down and grabbed the Samurai by the outstretched forearm and pulled his opponent to his feet. "Well done Kaito. If you had been using a magical blade, you could have done some serious damage."

The Samurai that Aldain now knew as Kaito nodded. "If you were not still holding back, that would be an immeasurable compliment."

"In time, I will have to stop holding back. You're training is coming along nicely." Horny replied, then nodded to the Knight and the Dark Knight. "All of you, well done."

###################################

"You have returned from your slumber." Horny stated simply. "Riana had told me that is why you had been silent for so long."

"I have. I'm glad that she kept you informed of what was happening." Aldain replied.

The Reaper nodded. "How can I help you Lord Keeper?"

"You seem aggravated Horny." Aldain stated simply.

"I'm bored. I can train, and command the armies, but in all honesty, I haven't had a good fight in months." The Reaper paused, then added. "I'm pent up."

Aldain chuckled, "I thought that what the Mistresses were for?"

Horny barked out a single laugh. "HA! That's what's been missing. The only person that talks to me like that is Riana and she's been so busy converting those towns that we've not had a chance to talk."

"Surely there are others that are as sarcastic in the realm?"

Horny shook his head, "There are, but none have the courage to talk to me like that."

"I can only suggest that you try and loosen up a bit Horny. Stop being such a stern faced demon, and they may relax a bit." Aldain suggested.

"I would love to, but even Riana agrees that as the General, perhaps it's best that I am seen with such fear and/or respect." Horny said.

"I can see her point." Aldain said quietly.

Horny suddenly shrugged off the moment, then spoke up again. "So, how may I help you Lord Keeper?"

"I need you to issue new commands to the covert people we have in Lord Johnston's realm. They are to cease any silent deaths, stop the bribery." Horny opened his mouth to object, but Aldain cut him off, "I do not want them to stop being prepared though. We are moving on Lord Johnston in fifteen days. They are to be ready to make the commanders of the enemies forces disappear if they decide they want to oppose us. We need those troops to be disorganized when the time comes."

Horny nodded, "Consider it done Lord Keeper."

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Satisfied that everything was in place, Aldain returned to the Temple and the Library within. Summoning his 'hand', Aldain opened up the scrolls that Vrianna had given him and began to study them once more. Aldain knew what this could mean to him and all he has worked for, but he had to study it completely and wholly. Aldain spent the next fourteen days in that library, studying the scrolls, pouring over them and putting their contents to memory. The only break he took during those days was for one day which he spent at his newest town, Valion. That day, he blessed the residents of the town, placed his blessing on the Temple and confirmed the appointment of a wise elder Droll as the Mayor of the town with two advisors, a young faerie and a dark elf.

However, at the end of the fourteen days, Aldain knew the scrolls front and back, he knew all their ins and outs. He knew everything he could about the two strange items that his High Priestess had brought him, and in the end, hoped he would never have to invoke their power.


	17. The Battle for Tristram

In a matter of six days, the town of Avrin, Tristram, and Treetop had converted peacefully to Aldain, though the balance was still hard to maintain. Aldain knew that all it would take would be a strong push back from Lord Johnston in order to convert the towns back. Knowing this, Aldain was focusing strongly on these three town. Regularly performing miracles for them, filling them with goods and skilled craftsmen from Twilight Star. This worked both for, and against, Aldain because many of the craftsmen and soldiers he was sending were not human.

Riana herself was moving between the town, being a physical manifestation of Aldain. Her patience and strength was more of a boon to the conversion process than Aldain could ever imagine. It was on the eve of the sixth day that things got ugly. Despite the quiet of the conquering of the towns, Lord Johnston had decided he couldn't just let things go quietly. Reports from Horny's shadow agents had reached Horny just in time. Johnston was sending two attacks. One was his army, whom Aldain's own troops had faced outside of Twilight Star years before. This time, they would be facing each other again at the borders of Tristram

The second attack was coming to Avrin. The attacking force was Johnston's creature, a huge orange furred Orangutan that the people of Avrin called Smoke. It had once been called Drivin, but had earned the name as years passed and slowly the gorilla changed and now whenever the gorilla breathed, black smoke billowed from Drivin's nostrils. Those loyal now to Aldain were scared of Smoke because the ape could at any time simply just snap and it would kill without cause or reason. Riana would be the one to face Smoke.

The army of Twilight Star stood silently in anticipation just as the sun was at its highest point on the seventh day since Tristram had been swayed to the side of the Lord Keeper. Aldain himself watched in silence as Lord Johnstons army approached in the distance. They outnumbered his own army by two to one, and they were an organized and militant force. Just watching them approace, Aldain could tell they were Johnston's best. More skilled and more powerful than the force that had once knocked on the gates of Twilight Star. The Lord Keeper was at an even more serious disadvantage because of the time of the day. The bulk of his fighting force was made up of those that had come from the underground and the light of the midday sun was glaring to them.

The approaching army stoppe a thousand paces from the Lord Keepers army. A single horseback rider left the mass of the attacking army and rode outward towards the center of what would be the battle ground. At the behest of the Twilight Star army, a single dragon the size of a large warhorse strode out to meet the rider.

Aldain followed Zhithos, the dragon, out to meet the rider. As soon as they drew close, Aldain could feel that Johnston was close as well.

Zhithos was the first to speak. "What brings your army to our gates?"

The Rider spoke next. "You know well what brings us. This town of Tristram belongs to Lord Johnston. You and the creatures of the Dark with you have invaded our lands and subjucated this town. Yield and submit yourselves to the Justice of the Light and our Lord."

"This town submitted willingly, without duress, and without force. Your 'lord' has no hold here. Return to where you came from. We want no bloodshed." Zhithos answered.

Suddenly, Lord Johnston's voice boomed across the field. "You? A Dragon that wants no blood? You are the spawn of a Keeper and we will not yield, will not retreat. You will..."

Aldain cut off Johston, his voice just as powerful as it echoed across the fields. "This realm belongs to me, The Lord Keeper, ruler of those beneath and above the surface. I hold the Hearts of Keeper Brilhast and Keeper Frith and the Tower of Prince Afrael, son of Lord Afrael. I ask you to withdraw from your incursion here as well as from your pending attack on Avrin."

"_Never!_" Johnston cried out, "Die Keeper!"

Aldain watched as the soldiers swarmed out onto the field, charging his own. Aldain felt power of a rune being cast and a bolt of lightning blasted Zhithos into the ground. Aldain quickly drew back to his own troops and began to speak to them quietly. "Patience my devoted. Let them come to us."

Aldain watched as the soldiers of Lord Johnston swarmed the field, charging his own the drew close and Aldain's minions braced themselves for combat, both Lord Johnston and The Lord Keeper began casting a miracle over the battle field. Lord Johnston did precisely what Aldain expected, and cast an attack spell. This on inparticular was a lightning bolt that arced through several of Aldain's troops, killing several of them in one shot.

Aldain's ritual took longer to cast however and he watched silently as another bolt of lightning blasted into his ranks before his ritual was finally cast. If he was physically visible, Aldain would have been smiling victoriously at Johnston as the sky from horizon to horizon darkened suddenly. The Blue, cloud filled sky was suddenly a star speckled night sky.

Lord Johnston's voice could be heard briefly "Wha…what did you do?"

On the ground, the Minions were fighting for their lives. The two bolts of lightning had demoralized the troops greatly, but that was still nothing compared to the effect that the sun was having. Of course, many of the troops had no problem fighting in the sun, but the Orcs, Demon Spawn, Goblins, Dark Elves, and many many others simply found the daylight glaringly painful. Then the sun was suddenly gone and the sky was a dark moonless sky with only the twinkling stars to provide light.

Dragoth, the Dark Knight, smiled. Only a second ago, the glare of the sun shining off the silvered armor of the troops of Lord Johnston had been almost too much. It was a challenge simply to get his shield in place before each attack coming at him. Now, eyes that were used to the darkness of the deep places of the earth relaxed, the pupils dilated to their normal size, and Dragoth was on the attack.

His foes were not able to fight in the Dark of the night, but Dragoth found it easy, even relaxing. Glancing around after running his next foe through, the Dark Knight saw that in only moments, the tide had begun to turn. Johnston was still casting spells of destruction, but the Lord Keeper was countering those attack with healing miracles and great shields of magical power. As the struggle of the gods took place over head, the Minions of the Lord Keeper spent their time doing what they do best, Killing.

Dragoth found himself shoulder to shoulder with Kaito, one of Horny's favored students. The pair were polar opposites on the battlefield. Dragoth was a shield carrying hack and slasher and though still highly skilled, the Dark Knights power was in strength and the weight of his blade. His heavy broadsword split armor, skulls, and skin.

Kaito was pure disciplined skill, finesse, speed, and accuracy. His thin and fast Katana sword was nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye, but the results were impossible to deny. If there was a space where your armor didn't overlap, that sword was there in a flash, severing limbs and opening throats. Dragoth was sure of one thing, the only thing deadlier than the Samurai or the Dark Knight, was the pair of them working together.

The battle had lasted nearly half the day, and they were all exhausted. When the last of Lord Johnston's troops fell, a cheer went up within the ranks. Dragoth, before the battle had looked forward to it, even with the sun out. It had been to long since they had been given a chance to just let go. Even as the Dark Knight leaned on the hilt of his broadsword to catch his breath, he knew the smile on his face was on the face of every Dark Elf, Demon, and Mistress on the field of battle. Today was a good day.


	18. The Battle for Avrin

Riana waited silently at the edge of the large wheat fields that to the east of Avrin, where she had been waiting for nearly six hours before she finally caught sight of the huge orangutan making its way towards the town. Even at first glance, she knew that the creature was much larger than her. As the creature she had referred to as Smoke, Riana began to understand the fears of the converted souls. The creature was large and with every exhale, black smoke billowed from between the teeth and out through the nostrils of the gorilla. As it drew close, Riana tried at first to be dimplomatic, smiling and waving at the huge creature that stood at least fifteen feet taller than her.

Smoke was having none of that however and as soon as he drew close, the ape reared up and pounded its chest like a silverback gorilla, then dropped back down with its heavy knuckles supporting the beast. Immediately the orangutan began to circle around, and Riana did the same, now watching warily, realizing that the fight was a mere moment from happening. Both of the huge creatures knew that their masters were supporting their respective 'ground troops' at the battle for Tristam, and knew that this fight was theirs alone.

###################################

Smoke peered through the black smoke coming from his breath and then smiled, knowing that this little cat could not possibly match with him. No need to play around. The sooner the fight was done, the soon his master could call him to help elsewhere, or even better, maybe eat a villager or two. Smoke had begun to develop a taste for the little creatures over the last century and could look forward to one after the fight. The thought alone made his mouth water a little bit.

With a quick double step forward, Smoke flung his right fist in a haymaker punch at the tiger, but then had to blink when the tiger nimbly dodged the blow, then came in and quickly slashed with her claws. The orangutan stepped back out of the tiger's reach and bellowed at her again, before again swinging a fist, this time with his left.

Again the agile tiger dodged and tried to attack, but the apes long arms gave him a huge reach advantage and was able to step out of reach again. Smoke tried once more with the same results before getting annoyed. Now when he attacked, the ape swung multiple times, letting his momentum carry him into the attack. The Tiger dodged the first blow easily, but the second punch caught her in the jaw and knocked the tiger down quickly. Following as she fell, Smoke raised both his fists in the air and tried to bring them down on the stunned tiger, trying to crush her.

This time, the tiger rolled to the side and came up with a flurry of claw strikes, but only once caught the ape, gashing open his right forearm. This angered Smoke, beyond anything he had been ready for. How DARE this puny creature hurt him, Smoke thought, then turned with a rage and launched himself into the tiger again, this time catching her on the shoulder, then again on the side of the rib cage.

Again and again the ape attacked, and though the tiger was dodging what she could, Smoke knew he was a better fight, had the reach advantage, and was a lot meaner. This fight wasn't as easy as he had expected, but he was darn sure going to win it.

After circling the Tigress a couple more time, he came into attack and as expected the Tigress sidestepped, and slashed out at him with her claws. Smoke thought for a brief moment that she was dizzy from the last hit, because the slash was not even close to him. Too late, he saw the small figure flying from the outstretched hand and directly at him. It was little, not much larger than the little humans that he snacked on, but this one was blood red with…Horns? Did he see horns?

###################################

As the Reaper flew through the air, he hurled his scythe ahead of him and watched in satisfaction as the curved blade sank into the flesh of the huge ape's bottom eyelid and hooked on the bone of the eye socket. Horny landed with a thump on Smokes chest and grabbed fistfuls of orange hair to keep from falling.

The Reaper watched with grimace as his scythe was plucked from the eye and throw to the side. Suddenly, the demon was holding on with every ounce of his strength as the Orangutan and the Tigress again traded blows, Riana the aggressor this time. As the two separated and began to circle each other once more, Horny mentally willed his fiery aura to once again surround him, and then quickly began climbing as fast as he could, handful of hair by handful of hair. The two combating Titans engaged once more before Smoke realized he was smoking for a reason not of his choosing and by this time, The Reaper had made it to his shoulder.

Just as the Ape moved to try to put out the fire on its' chest, Horny hurled a fire ball straight into the Orangutan's ear, which was a large target for the demon. The Reaper snapped his finger and a gout of flame erupted from the ear canal as the fire ball exploded.

###################################

Riana smiled as the saw her opponent suddenly look down at his chest and frantically begin beating at the fire spreading through his thick chest hair. The sound of a small explosion suddenly burst through the air and a blast of flame shot out from the side of Smoke's Head. The ape staggered to his left, away from the side that the blast had happened, cupping his ear. Riana seized the moment and pounced atop the staggered ape. Already off balance, he fell easily with the tigress' added weight.

Smoke, flat on his back brought up his hands in time to stop her snarling jaws from clamping down on his throat, but he could not stop her as Riana raked at his chest and stomach with the claws on her hands and feet. As she tore him open, the ape suddenly grew frantic and made the mistake of releasing her jaws in an attempt to throw her off. Seconds later, the last of the air in the ape's lungs popped through as blood bubbles through the savaged through and the Tigress raised her head and roared Triumpantly.


	19. The Avatar Comes

Vrianna and the Reaper walked side by side, ahead of the large Tigress Riana, as all three, plus about a quarter of the Lord Keepers army approached the front gates of the city of Johnstown, named after the 'god' Lord Johnston. As they drew closer, it quickly became apparent to those approaching that a revolt was underway in the City. Smoke billowed up from behind the walls of the city, and the front gates were closed, leading them even further to believe that the people knew that their despot ruler was on the way out, and a new one was on his way in. Arriving at the gates, the army stayed about a quarter mile back, while the three leaders of the forces of Twilight Star approached, unafraid.

Lady Vrianna spoke a quiet enchantment that caused her voice to amplify. "People of Johnstown, we have come to release you from the iron fist of the False God. Open your gates to us so that we may enter peacefully!"

A pair of loud thuds sounded across the fields and then the sound of a chain clanking as the front gates slowly opened. The reaper growled low, gesturing to the solitary figure standing just inside the gate. "That's no human standing there."

Out into the dusk light walked an exceptionally large Orc Warlord, one of the Reapers premier lieutenants in the army. "Welcome to Johnstown."

The Orc approached and bowed low, "General, Priestess, Avatar. The town has been secured and all those resistant to the rule of the Lord Keeper have been…_removed_."

Riana looked skyward, directly at the unseen essence of Aldain. "What have you done?"

Aldain spoke quietly, but firmly. "I've struck preemptively, using all at my command to end this war. A long battle benefits no one."

Vrianna, Riana, and the Reaper all moved inside of the gates and into the center of town. Immediately, the three all saw what had happened. In the middle of the center of the city was an underground tunnel, dug quickly and with great skill.

The Reaper looked around first, seeing that the imps were already cleaning up the signs of the battle, while his soldiers were doing exactly as they had been trained, securing weapons, guard posts, and new guards. "You commanded the attack while the three of us traveled by foot."

Riana scowled. "How long have you been planning this?"

Aldain answered easily, almost pleased sounding. "I've been planning this since I awoke from my rest. I needed to be sure that all the assets of Johnston fell, and fell very near in time to each other."

"So while we walked, you sent the Minions in to slaughter the populace of Johnstown?" Riana asked with a hiss.

"Oh no," Aldain said easily. "The spies that the Reaper had in place previously at the three smaller town all came here. They spent the time finding those in command that would convert. They found those that would never sway. Out of nearly a thousand souls in this city, only a hundred and twelve died."

"A Hundred and twelve souls that did not need to die, Lord Keeper." Riana said with a growl.

Vrianna was silent for a time, then shook her head. "Creature, this is why we are here."

Riana looked down at the High Priestess and was silent for a moment. The Creature looked around, then her gaze shifted up to stare in the direction of the Temple in Twilight Star.

"You are correct High Priestess." Riana said, then turned her gaze skyward. "Lord Keeper, let's get into the Temple. Reaper, can you be sure to…."

Riana paused and looked back and forth, her eyes searching. "Where did Horny go to?"

Aldain mentally willed himself to where the Reaper was. It was unlike the Reaper to take off like that, especially when things were being discussed with Riana, Vrianna, and the Lord Keeper himself. Aldains' vision blurred for a moment, then he found himself inside his Temple, and saw that the Reaper was approaching the large crystalline stone at the center of the Temple. It took a moment for Aldain to realize, this was not his tower, it was the Temple of Lord Johnston.

"What are you doing Reaper?" Aldain asked quietly.

The Reaper looked up and smiled, "Claiming this Temple for my own."

Aldain was silent for a moment before speaking again, "Why would you do this? You know that this Temple is mine to claim."

Horny paused in his steps, still with his eyes looking up at the Lord Keeper. "I'm sorry Lord Keeper. I do owe you so much for releasing me from the grip of the Hells, but it has been my goal for centuries before your birth to have a foot hold on the surface. To forever be under the sun. This is my chance to be assured that I will forever be free of the grip of Darkness."

Horny was halfway to the Gem when Aldain spoke again. His voice calm, but very threatening. "Horny. I command you to stop. If you attempt to claim this Temple for yourself, I will destroy you."

The Reaper scoffed. "Inside this Temple, you have no control. Johnston has already given up on his hold over the Temple, but until it is claimed, you can touch nothing inside its walls, save the Stone."

Aldain sighed, "So be it."

Mentally, Aldain reached out to Vrianna, "_Is it prepared_?"

Vrianna replied mentally as well, "_It is my Lord_."

Aldain willed himself to Vrianna. Sitting on the ground at the entrance to the Temple was the small Statue that Vrianna had given to him when he awoke from his 'rest.' Resting in the 'hands' of the statue was the gem that Vrianna had also given to him.

"What is this statue your High Priestess has placed here?" Riana asked when she felt Aldain return.

"The Reaper is attempting to take the Temple. I will stop him." The Lord Keeper stated simply, then he traced first one, then two, then a third rune in the air. With each Rune, every creature within a thousand paces could feel the energy building.

As Aldain traced a fourth Rune in the air, Vrianna whispered "The Avatar comes."

Aldain felt all of his power, all of his energy, all of his essence suddenly condensed and his view of the world was caught up in a spiral. In the back of his mind, he registered that he heard Riana yell in surprise. Aldain then felt something he had not felt in over two years. A heartbeat.

Aldain blinked and took a moment to recall what it was to move, and then the remainder of his power swelled back into him. The surge caused his body to rise a few meters off the ground as the energy coalesced and seeped into his body. Finally he dropped to the ground. Aldain took no time to look at himself to see what he looked like. Somehow, as a result of the magic involved in the transformation he already knew. With a sudden burst of speed, Aldain shot forward into the temple, his wings carrying him swiftly.

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Riana the Titan Tigress and Vrianna the High Priestess watched as a prism of magical energy formed in the air. As they watch, in the span of only a second, the energy took shape as a large humanoid. When the creature that was forming in front of them dropped to the ground, there was a blast of energy released, flattening the High priestess to the ground and nearly taking the feet out from under the Tigress.

Riana exclaimed aloud and then looked again after regaining her balance and saw the Lord Keeper, as the Avatar. The body looked to be about seven and a half feet tall, and was covered with silver scales like that of a dragon. The creatures head was elongated, but not as much as that of a dragon or a horse, the tail extending out from the base of the spine was definitely that of a dragon however, as were the wings protruding from the back. Riana realized that the form that the Lord Keeper had taken was that of a Half-Dragon.

Along the forearms, upper arms, calves and thighs of the half-dragon were golden plates of metal and in the hands of the Avatar was a large, slightly curved two-handed sword. The blade, when visible, was chromish steel and a constant flow of rainbow colored energy slid from the haft of the weapon and coalesced along the blade. Then in a blink, the Avatar was gone, disappearing inside the entrance of the Temple.


End file.
